


right beside me (but miles away)

by uwumeup



Series: skephalo oneshots [4]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Christmas Presents, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:15:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28461519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uwumeup/pseuds/uwumeup
Summary: "My present," Skeppy pressed on, "The one I mailed to you for Christmas?""Yeah, I got it.""And you haven't opened it yet, have you? I didn't want you to until today."Bad rolled his eyes, "I could tell, Skeppy - the giant 'do not open until Christmas' in sharpie smack dab on the front of it told me enough."
Relationships: Zak Ahmed & Darryl Noveschosch, Zak Ahmed/Darryl Noveschosch
Series: skephalo oneshots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2044978
Comments: 19
Kudos: 302





	right beside me (but miles away)

"Oh, Bad, I almost forgot to ask - you got my present, right?" 

Bad's gaze lingered on where he was scanning over his server logs, a long overdue process that Callahan had been messaging him about for nearly two weeks. His eyes stung from the brightness of his monitor, contrasting against the darkness cloaking the rest of the room. It would probably have been best to turn some other lights on - a lamp, at the very least - but the fluffy form of Lucy sleeping peacefully on his bed made him reconsider. 

A cough sounded from Skeppy's end, and he dragged his gaze to the open Teamspeak window in the corner of the screen, a form of makeshift eye-contact. "Hmm?" 

"My present," Skeppy pressed on, "The one I mailed to you for Christmas?" 

"Yeah, I got it." 

"And you haven't opened it yet, have you? I didn't want you to until today." 

Bad rolled his eyes, "I could tell, Skeppy - the giant 'do not open until Christmas' in sharpie smack dab on the front of it told me enough." 

"Alright, alright," Skeppy laughed, "Get your camera on, I want to see you open it!" 

"Do I have to? Isn't hearing my voice enough?" 

"Bad, as much as I love your voice, I want to see your pretty face too." He teased, and Bad pushed down a smile, cheeks flushing. "Besides, you've already got it set up for your facecam streams, right?" 

The brunette stared menacingly up at the small video camera, cursing its existence. "I mean, I do." 

"Then grab the box and turn it on!" 

With a long sigh, Bad pushed himself out of his chair, pulling off his headphones and setting them on his desk as he stepped past his bed and to his counter. Lucy jumped up from where she'd been curled up on a few of his spare shirts, letting out a whine as she excitedly pawed at Bad's leg. He hushed her, patting her head lightly before ushering her back to her spot. 

Squinting through the darkness, he pulled open his drawers, digging past the pairs of still-packaged socks he'd received for Christmas to pull out a box. Truth be told, he'd almost been tempted to open it a couple times over the past few days; the way Skeppy had mentioned it with such eagerness had only spurred him on, a childish excitement building up inside him. It was why he'd forced himself to stash it away. Out of sight, out of mind, and all. 

The box itself was fairly small, no discernible features on it besides Skeppy's messy handwriting scrawled across one of the sides. Despite the other's constant chatter about it, he'd given no hints as to what it was past saying that it was something he hoped Bad would like. 

He pushed the drawer shut, moving back to sit in his desk chair with a huff, "This better not be some dumb troll, Skeppy." 

"Oh come on, when was the last time I trolled you?" 

"Let's check..." Bad raised a brow, clicking to Skeppy's channel and scrolling down slightly. "Huh, it just so happens that the last video on your channel was just that." 

Skeppy hummed, "You checked that pretty quick, did you already have my channel open?" 

Bad stared at the pinned YouTube tab, before quickly closing it, "Anyways-" 

"Aww,  _ Bad _ !" 

"Anyways, can I just open this already?" 

"Ah, ah, ah," He tutted, "Facecam first. Here, I'll turn on mine too if it makes you feel better, go to Discord." 

He rolled his eyes, disconnecting from the channel and pulling up Discord, watching as Skeppy's face popped up on it. The boy grinned excitedly, messy hair falling across his tired face. Bad allowed his eyes to linger on it for a few moments, until Skeppy's lips pulled into a pout. 

"Baaad," He whined, "Turn your facecam on already!" 

"Ugh, fine..." Bad huffed, but moved to switch it on nonetheless, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and brushing his hair back as he did so. 

As the webcam's light flickered on, Skeppy's eyebrows shot up, before drawing together. 

"Bad," He snickered, "I can barely see anything! You look like you're in a cave." 

"Rat's asleep, I didn't want to wake her up by turning any lights on!" He retorted, fidgeting with the box in hand. 

"Ugh, at least turn up your monitor brightness or something. Don't you have a lamp or anything? There's no point in you opening it on camera if I can't even see you doing it!" 

Bad groaned, setting the box down on his desk and muttering a quiet apology to Lucy as he flicked his lamp on, taking a seat back on his chair. 

Skeppy's face immediately lit up at that, resting his chin on a sweater-covered hand with a soft laugh. "Your hair's grown back quite a bit!" 

"Yeah, hair can grow quite a bit in five months, Skeppy." 

"Geez, I forgot it's been that long already, seems like these past few months have just flown by." He paused for a moment, before waving it off. "Anyways, how about you get to opening your gift?" 

Bad squinting down at the box. He'd been hesitant to shake the box around too much, lest it be something fragile and he ended up breaking it before even getting to see what it was. Tilting it now, he could hear something move around inside, muffled by the tissue paper that seemed to be surrounding it. Skeppy's eager expression stared him down from the screen, and it finally spurred him forward, pulling at the box flaps. 

When he finally opened it, he was met with a mess of blue and red tissue paper. Bad wondered briefly if he had planned those colours, before deciding that he most definitely had. As impulsive of a person Skeppy was, he was more detail-oriented than most people gave him credit for. 

"Well?" Said boy urged, seeming to notice his hesitation. "I didn't just get you tissue paper, hurry up!" 

Bad snorted - impatient, too. 

Finally, he pulled out the tissue paper, meticulously dropping each piece on the far side of his desk - he wouldn't want to leave any lying around for Lucy to eat, after all. A wooden box sat at the bottom of it, and he lifted it out, shooting a glance at Skeppy. The boy flashed an encouraging smile back, and Bad could tell he was holding himself back from practically vibrating on the spot. 

His eyes trailed back down to the box, and he flicked open the lid, staring down into it. 

"A... ring?" 

"A promise ring," Skeppy clarified, "It's meant to symbolize commitment and hope for the future - blah, blah, something like that. I know, it's pretty cheesy, but I thought it could be a way to remind you of me, even when we aren't together. And, look, we match!" 

He held up his hand to the camera, and Bad could see the gold ring adorning his finger, even through the fuzzy camera. A small, blue gem - a diamond, he assumed - sat in the middle of it, mirroring the red one in his own. He lowered it hesitantly, and at Bad's silent, wide-eyed stare, Skeppy swallowed. 

"I mean, I know you probably aren't that much of a jewelry guy, I'm not either. I just figured that if you didn't actually want to wear it as a ring, you could use a chain, or even just keep it in the box. I mean, if you really want, you can just mail it back and I'll... well, I can't get it returned, since it was custom, but-" 

"Skeppy," Bad cut in, finally finding his voice. "No, no, Skeppy I..." 

Bad could feel himself choking up, and ducked his head away from the camera. "...This is probably the nicest, most thoughtful thing anyone's ever gotten for me." 

"More thoughtful than the pizzas?" He could hear the smirk in Skeppy's voice. 

"Way more thoughtful than the pizzas. Skeppy..." Bad sniffled, staring down at the ring in his hand, carefully tilting it back and forth to admire it. He could see something engraved on the inside - a date, maybe? - but couldn't quite make it out through the tears clouding his vision. 

"You might have to try it on, let me know if it fits. I didn't want to ask you for your ring size since that'd just give away the surprise, so I just got half a size smaller than mine. If it doesn't, you can just get it adjusted and I'll pay for it, no worries." 

Bad didn't respond, he was fairly sure he couldn't without breaking down completely anyways. Gingerly, he slipped over his finger, holding it closer to the light once again to admire it. After a moment, he sat back up in view of the camera, attempting to discreetly wipe at his eyes. 

Skeppy shot a soft smile at him, "Good?" 

The brunette nodded wordlessly in return, unable to decide whether to focus his attention on Skeppy or the ring. Eventually, he settled on toying with the band, eyes meeting Skeppy's. 

"Hey, why don't we both hold them up to the camera so I can take a picture?" 

"Really, Skeppy, while I'm still crying?" A laugh bubbled out, but he held his hand up, allowing the camera to focus on it.

Skeppy held his up as well, lowering it after a moment, and Bad followed suit. 

"I feel bad now, I-" He let out a choked sob, "I didn't even think to get you anything." 

"Bad, you being here is more than enough," Skeppy's smile pulled at his cheeks, eyes crinkling. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." 

The way that his expression shone brighter than the sun, even through the awful camera feed, made Bad believe it. As he cradled his hand against his chest, he could almost imagine that Skeppy was right in front of him, in arms reach, that he could pull the other boy in and never let go. 

Soon enough, he wouldn't have to imagine it.

**Author's Note:**

> just a quick, fluffy fic :] this isn't beta-read bc I wanted to get it out before the year ended, but I hope you guys like it anyways ^^'  
> also I swear I am working on the next chapter of my band au I've just been busy q_q
> 
> -
> 
> [twitter: caniivyrne]
> 
> comments and kudos are very much appreciated! <3


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